Vintage 1993 Hand Painted Russian Nesting Dolls Zagorsk Signed - 5 pcs Praying Nuns. For sale is a set of Russian Nesting Dolls made in Zagorsk - Sergiev Posad and had crafted circa 1993. This is a unique collectible piece in excellent condition even though this "doll" is 25 years old. There are a total of 5 pieces going from 7.5 tall for the largest one. They are depicting praying nuns.

Bright colors and gilded accents make it a wonderful presentation and a great gift to someone special. Read below about the history of Russian nesting doll making at Sergiev Posad. Purchasing this item you will have a valuable piece of history and an excellent representation of the Russian folk art.

Questions - shoot us a message and we will be glad to respond. Size: 7.5 H x 4 D (middle) x 3 (bottom).

Russian Matryoshka Nesting Dolls made in Sergiev Posad. In due time the Russian nesting dolls turned Sergiev Posad into the «toy capital». It happened before the revolution, but even today the skilled craftsmen can please us with the skillfully made toys. The known factory of toys produces the classical Zagorsk Russian nesting dolls, besides, there are a lot of the masters working in the city. Nobody knows exactly when the first Russian nesting doll appeared in Sergiev Posad.

They say that Saint Sergiy Radonezhsky himself was carving and giving to the children the wooden toys. Two hundred years before the appearance of the Russian nesting dolls people in Sergiev Posad were already engaged in toy craft. In XV century pilgrims were bringing horses, girls in kokoshniks, tilting dolls from the monastery. Both tsar's and peasant's children were playing with them. The craft reached its flourishing in the end of XVIII beginning of XIX centuries.

In XIX-th century the Russian nesting dolls started being manufactured in the capital workshop «Children's education», later the painting of the Russian nesting dolls was mastered in Sergiev Posad. At this time that very type of the Russian nesting doll named "Zagorskaya" (in honor of the old name of this city), or the Sergiev Posad Russian nesting doll was born. Splash of interest in the new Russian toy and the beginning of its mass manufacturing occurred at the beginning of the XX-th century and is connected with the World's fair in Paris. There was established the artel "Kustar - khudozhnik" («Handicraftsman - artist») in the city which later grew into the modern factory of toys. The Russian nesting doll from Sergiev Posad had a special color which the local masters adhere even today.

At the same time the interest to this wonderful toy caused in the Russian centers of ancient crafts the appearance of the other variants for the painted Russian nesting doll. Gradually the very picturesque, over gilded Russian nesting doll from Sergiev Posad was replaced with the quieter variant: painting with the red, yellow, green and dark blue colors with the thin black contouring. Masters of our time have inhaled their imagination in to the ancient craft, the toy has again blossomed out with all colors.

Bright, joyful painting of each Russian nesting doll from Sergiev Posad is a gift for the child and a theme for the art historian. Russian nesting dolls from Sergiev Posad are very different. One doll has three sisters, and the other one has fifty of them. Maidens from one family can have a kitten in hands, and the others - a flower or a handkerchief. Each skilled craftsman makes the Russian nesting doll with a specific face, the dress and environment.

The item "Vintage 1993 Hand Painted Russian Nesting Dolls Zagorsk Signed 5 Praying Nuns" is in sale since Tuesday, December 19, 2017. This item is in the category "Dolls & Bears\Dolls\By Type\Nesting". The seller is "lk1939" and is located in Leesburg, Virginia.